Japanese I

The course, divided into three modules with the addition of practice lessons, aims at strengthening the JLPT N3 level skills while deepening N2 level lexicon, expressions and morphosyntactic elements. Furthermore, students will develop intermediate textual comprehension skills and will learn the most frequent N2 kanji, in addition they will also learn the features of business Japanese in professional settings.

Module 1: Sōgō Nihongo (chūkyū nyūmon). General Japanese (pre-intermediate)
We will tackle Units 1-10 of the textbook New Approach Japanese Intermediate Course, which include written texts of medium length characterised by an intermedaite lexicon and complex morphosyntactic structures, grammar exercises, instructions for sakubun, JLPT N3 level listening tasks, and bunkei of various types: comparison, state or similarity, degree or change, contrast, hearsay, time, guesswork, prediction or expectation, cause or reason, and more.

Module 2: Sōgō Nihongo (chūkyū). General Japanese (intermediate)
We will tackle Units 11-20 of the textbook New Approach Japanese Intermediate Course, which include written texts of medium length characterised by an intermedaite lexicon and complex morphosyntactic structures, grammar exercises, instructions for sakubun, JLPT N3 and N2 level listening tasks, and bunkei of various types: : comparison, state or similarity, degree or change, contrast, hearsay, time, guesswork, prediction or expectation, cause or reason, conclusion, and more.

Module 3: Bijinesu Nihongo. Business Japanese
In this third module, we will analyse the main types of correspondence in business and work settings, with particular attention given to both the correct reading, understanding and translation from Japanese into Italian of business-related texts, and to the actual ability of drafting a written text in business communicative contexts. Moreover, particular attention will be given to the in-depth study of keigo or honorific language, and to the most adequate communicative expressions depending on the context.

Practice lessons:
During the practice lessons with native speaking teachers, students will improve the four general language skills, that is reading comprehension, listening comprehension, writing and speaking. These lessons are an integral part of the course and will be held in Japanese, with the aim of immersing the students in the language. In addition to the Units of the textbook J-Bridge To Intermediate Japanese, students will have to autonomously study a list of 250 JLPT N2 level kanji, learning not only how to write them, but also their readings and various terms in which such kanji occur.